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Colonial-Era Forest Rest Houses In The Hills Are Being Spruced Up To Attract Tourists

Atul Sethi | TNN

Everything about them — the sloping roof, the chimneys and the wooden fireplace — reminds of a bygone era. And now, more and more people are discovering their old-world charm. The ubiquitous Forest Rest Houses (FRHs), that used to be the haunt of the touring burra sahib during the days of the Raj are being developed to welcome tourists. Currently, there are over 350 FRHs in Himachal Pradesh (HP) and almost 200 in Uttarakhand. Most of them however, offer only basic facilities and are generally two or three room units. But now, a few of them are being spruced up to offer tourists a comfortable stay in an ecological setting. “There is a certain charm in staying in a century-old rest house inside a forest,” says Vineet Kumar, conservator of forests (eco-tourism), Himachal Pradesh. “That is why, we have started promoting these places as eco-friendly destinations since the past few years.” Forest Rest Houses have had a long and fascinating history. They were primarily built by the British from the second half of the nineteenth century. They still occupy premium spots in and around hill towns, mostly in Uttarakhand and HP. The Gazetteer of Garhwal Himalayas, published in 1910, has a detailed list of these rest houses. In the section titled ‘Bungalows’, it lists a number of such properties, with special mention of a few, “from whose verandah, a beautiful view can be obtained of the Trishul snows.” “Most of the FRHs have amazing locations, with fantastic views. They are also great historical buildings,” says Ritish Suri of Camp Forktail Creek, which organises trips to FRHs located in the Kumaon region. Historicity is a characteristic common to many of the rest houses. The one at Craignano, for instance, situated a few kms from Mashobra near Shimla, has a number of old books, which formed part of a library, when the property was used as a club for officers in the 1930s. Elsewhere, for example, in the rest houses located in the Corbett tiger reserve, don’t be surprised to see faded entries in the register — mostly from the 1930s and ’40s — of hunting trips and details of tigers felled. In fact, while chasing man-eaters, Jim Corbett spent a great deal of time in the numerous rest houses peppered around Kumaon. In his book Man-Eaters of Kumaon, Corbett mentions a number of such forest bungalows like the one at Kala Agar, where he stayed while he was hunting the Chowgarh tigress. Forest rest houses also provided a setting for many stories of writers like Rudyard Kipling and Satyajit Ray, who were perhaps fascinated by the tremendous atmosphere that they could lend to the plot. Add the mandatory chowkidar, the rocking cane chair in the verandah, the wind rustling in the jungle on a moonless night and you had all the ingredients of a crackling story that you could relish at bedtime! However, despite the romanticism attached to them, not all FRHs are presently in a good condition. Quite a few are situated in remote outposts where there is often no water or electricity. Many also require urgent repairs. “Since funds available to the forest department are limited, not much attention was earlier given to these rest houses. They were primarily used as a transit house by forest officers on inspection visits,” says Kumar. “However, we have now taken up the work of developing all of them in a phased manner, under public private partnership schemes(PPP).” Almost 27 FRHs have been selected by the HP forest department and are being developed as part of the scheme. “Unemployed youth as well as eco-tourism professionals are being involved,” says Kumar. “This would integrate FRHs and other infrastructure available within the forests in order to promote sustainable tourist activities that would involve and benefit local village communities.” In Uttarakhand, nature trails are being developed around the FRHs. “The objective would be to give visitors a taste of the forest that surrounds these properties,” says Ranjana Kala, conservator(eco-tourism), Uttarakhand forests. While these initiatives are a step forward, it would take a long time for all the FRHs in the hills to be covered. Forest department officials say they would prefer to wait and see the response of the eco-tourism scheme, before they take up more FRHs. Nature and wildlife enthusiasts would be hoping the wait does not turn out to be a very long one. BEFORE YOU BOOK... Accommodation in most Forest Rest Houses (FRHs) is limited. It is better to book with the DFO of the area a few weeks before your trip Many FRHs currently offer basic facilities only. Carry your own provisions or arrange with the caretaker to cook for you Hunting, of any kind is prohibited in the forest area. If you have to shoot, use a camera

MISTY VIEW: The rest house at Craignano

NATURE & HISTORY: (clockwise from top) Forest Rest Houses at Chakrata in Uttarakhand and Seog in Himachal; old books at Craignano near Mashobra